Foldable furniture is well known in the art specifically chairs and tables. Foldable tables present two essential benefits, they occupy little space during the storage and can accommodate several people in the unfolded operating state. There are many families which does not require large table surfaces on a daily basis. However from time to time they need to accommodate larger numbers of guests. For them having a foldable table and chairs is one solution. Further in the current real estate market with more and more people living in condominiums with small apartments, modular foldable furniture becomes desirable.
There are number of collapsible tables and collapsible dining sets described in prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,802 discloses a folding table and a seating apparatus comprising a circular table and eight stools. This assembly, even in a folded state, occupies a large space and does not provide a sufficient solution to space limitations in condominiums.
There are several “umbrella type” foldable tables as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 786,732; 2,162,298 and 5,425,315. These tables which occupy a small space are disadvantageous in that, when collapsed, the upper table surface folds outward and remains open to air subjected to dust and dirt. This is undesirable due to sanitary concerns.
Further U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,823 discloses a collapsible table and a seat assembly in which the table top is stored inside the interior of the housing. The described design has a limitation in the size of the table which can be nested inside the interior. Further there some operational limitations: the folding and the unfolding of the table are complicated and physically challenging. Finally this type of assembly is adapted to be used mostly outdoors and is not suitable for the indoor use.
There were numerous attempts to develop foldable tables with a seat assembly, however most of those tables had various deficiencies. Some expose the table tops to the environment making it a sanitary concerns. Others have a complicated mechanical structure while others occupied a lot of storage space.
Another deficiency of the foldable tables described in the prior art was the folding and unfolding operation. All the tables had to be manually operated and therefore the procedure of folding and unfolding required physical strain and limited the manufacturing of tables to a smaller size.
It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a foldable table operable by a jack to make the folding and unfolding of the table effortless.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a foldable table which does not expose its working surface to the environment during the storage in the folded state.
It is another object of the invention to provide a foldable table with a lid which serves as a lid in the folded state and as a serving surface in the operational state.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a foldable table with a foldable seat assembly operable by a jack.
Thus the present invention relates to a foldable table and a seat assembly which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. The present invention is directed to an improved foldable table which is easy to store and easy to operate, the table is not limited in size and does not expose the table top to the environment during storage.
Further and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when considering the following summery of the invention and the more detailed description of the preferred embodiments illustrated herein.